Parra Mattas

by Red Dwyer

Monday, 28 January 2008

Disabled people rehabilitate computers

Disabled people at Wesley Mission’s electronic circuitry company, Qualitec, at Rydalmere, are using their skills to refurbish computers which are sold to people from low socio-economic backgrounds. Usable computer parts are also recycled and sold through the online auction site eBay.

“Wesley Mission wants to prevent as much waste as possible from going into landfills while also giving disabled people a chance to work with technology,” Lance Hind, Wesley Disabled Business Services manager, told The Parramatta Advertiser.

In praise of suburban workforces

Professor Phillip O’Neill, director of the UWS Urban Research Centre, based in the Parramatta CBD, says a plus for companies moving west is taking advantage of workers living in the suburbs. “They are loyal, travel shorter distances, the home-work balance is better, with the cultural diversity you have a multilingual workforce and you can run out of hours more easily,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

The Telly said business and urban research leaders cited traffic congestion, long-distance commuting and high office rents as the cause behind the exodus the Sydney/North Sydney CBD. The government is also shifting services to the west with the Police Force headquarters, the Attorney-General’s Department in Parramatta, and the Sydney Water HQ under construction in the city.

It's hard to say 'no'

Arne Christiansen, the Danish-born founder of the family-owned Woodmark International Furniture, at Wetherill Park, who has built a reputation since 1990 for supporting Australian designers by helping them develop their designs and getting their prototypes into production – often at a significant financial risk to the company.

“The most difficult thing is when designers come and you can’t take any more on – you feel so bad saying ‘no’”, he said. Woodmark has been flat out over the past few months with a multimillion-dollar order for Sydney-based Living Edge, another company at the forefront of promoting Australian design, which is poised to take Australian furniture design overseas with a new showroom in Los Angeles.